“If you understand your history, then you would know from where you came, Then I wouldn’t have had to ask you, Who the hell am I?” (Bob Marley). Understanding one’s story allows people to know their lineage. This will allow others not to question their struggle for equality and reparations. Bob Marley, Noel Williams and Bob Marley recorded “Buffalo Soldier”, an reggae tune. Bob Marley created the third album Confrontation in 1980. The album was released following his death in 1983. This essay will examine the relation between “Buffalo Soldier”, a Reggae track, and the issues of class, race, and socioeconomic inequalities, especially amongst African Americans. It provides a comprehensive classification of Reggae styles, tempos, and instruments, as well as a brief overview of Bob Marley’s life. Three well-known Jamaican music genres, Ska, Mentor and Rocksteady, were the inspiration for Reggae. These genres had a significant influence on Reggae. It is important to understand and appreciate the roots of reggae. Mento is an indigenous Jamaican dancer and folk musician. It is based on African and European foundations, but has a strong Jamaican melody. Mento, for instance, is acoustic music that uses acoustic instruments. These include the banjo (banjo), hand drums, and rhumba boxes. Ska was the result of Mento’s success. This genre merged American R&B (Doo-wop), Jazz, and Mento. Ska is distinct because of its unique walking bass line and upbeat rhythms. Around 1966, Rocksteady was born. After Jamaica’s independence, 1962, Rocksteady emerged from the poor neighborhoods of Kingston. Rocksteady plays the piano and drums as well as the bass. Rocksteady couldn’t afford the best horn section and so manufacturing was very cheap. The electric basses are interwoven with drums. This symphonic quality, also known as riddim was later transferred into reggae. Rocksteady was demolished in Trenchtown, Kingston, when Reggae came to replace it. The main difference between reggae and rocksteady is the more powerful and vibrant cadenced guitarist. This guitar typically achieves a two-chord arrangement in melody to the drum beats and bass, while reggae’s bass line projects and excels in detail. Reggae had a theme that was different from rocksteady, focusing on unity, romance, joy and other themes. Reggae was instead a powerful medium for expressing grievances about sociopolitical inequality and prejudice. The “trenches”, or “ghettos,” of Kingston, Jamaica, are synonymous with reggae. Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” is a powerful example of the theme of reggae. This militant song emphasizes the need to have blacks living abroad, particularly in America, fight against social and political inequality. Contrary to what is being said about Marley’s music today, it symbolizes solidarity, unification and love. “Bob Marley” is one of today’s most beloved and misunderstood artists.
Robert Nesta Marley (aka Bob Marley), is the most well-known reggae musician. He was born February 6, 1945 in St. Ann’s Bay Parrish. He died May 11, 1981. A white European father and a black Jamaican teenager mother, Marley is the son. Marley was only ten years old when he moved to Kingston. He would live in the Kingston ghettos for the rest of his life. Marley lost his father at the age of ten. Marley began his singing career at the age of fifteen with the release of “Judge Not,” his first Ska album. In 1963, Marley joined the Wailers music band, which included Neville ‘Bunny” Livingston (aka Bunny Wailer) and Peter McIntosh. Marley married Rita Anderson (later a backup singer for the I-Threes) in 1966. He also moved to Wilmington, Delaware to be near his mother in 1966. Marley and his Wailers began to incorporate Rastafarianism within their lyrics. Marley’s style changed distinctively after he returned to Jamaica. The Wailers’ biggest hit in Jamaica was “Trenchtown rock” in 1971.
Bob Marley and The Wailers sponsored the event in the 1970s.
People’s National Party (PNP) and Prime Minster Candidate Michael Manley won the 1972 national elections. This resulted in a stronger connection between politics and Reggae music. The Wailers’ 1972 album Catch a fire, featuring songs like “Stir It Up”, was also released by Island Records. Although it was successful, the Wailers were criticized for their hybrid reggae/rock sound. Their next album, Burnin’, was produced. The album included traditional Jamaican folk rhythms.
Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and other members of the group were unable to resolve internal conflicts and decided to go solo in 1974. Marley rebuilt the group, adding the Barrett brothers to the bass and drums. The group was officially renamed Bob Marley and his Wailers. Natty Dread was the album’s second album. It featured a new sound with a blues/rock amplified sound and a gospel-influenced backing band, the I-Threes. Bob Marley’s third album, Confrontation, was released in 1980. This album, which came out after his death in 1983, features his hit single Buffalo Soldier. Marley’s album “Buffalo Soldier”, a tribute to America’s continued subjugation of blacks. Jim Crow and other policies such as those mentioned above were part of America’s liberal history, which ran from 1776 to 960. Marley uses Marley’s Buffalo Soldier analogy in order to demonstrate the heroisms, fearlessness, courage, and bravery of blacks living in America now, the ancestors African slaves. Marley’s song starts with Marley stating that “There was an African Buffalo Soldier in America, Stolen and brought to America, Fighting at arrival, fighting for survival”. The Buffalo Soldier is a reference to the U.S. black cavalry regiments (aka Buffalo Soldiers), which were an army on the front line in the Indian Wars. Marley likens their struggle to survive and revolutionizes them as symbols of black resistances and bravery. The song’s purpose is to draw attention to the important role blacks play in America’s enrichment and betterment. It also aims at highlighting the fact that all people are entitled, regardless of their status, to basic civil liberty, including freedom from oppression or marginalization. Marley’s charismatic voice, “Then You wouldn’t Have to Ask Me, Who the Heck Do I Think I Am?” here, demonstrates Marley’s frustrations about why basic civil rights for blacks in America are so important. Marley’s song titled “Buffalo Soldier” inspires blacks to overcome oppression and inequality and to mobilize diaspora Africans to take back their sovereignty in America. Marley uses repetition (“Said he had arrived fighting for survival”) and the analogy (“Buffalo Soldier”) to convey the significant contribution that blacks have made to America’s growth.
“Buffalo Soldier,” has one guitar playing the chords. This is similar in reggae. “Buffalo Soldier” exemplifies reggae’s central theme as a powerful tool to express grievances and resist oppression. Reggae is a revolutionary music genre that originated in Jamaica’s “ghettoes”. It evolved from Mento, Ska and Rocksteady to become a global success. Marley, however, brought reggae mainstream. His experiences with oppression and Rastafarian spirituality, as well as slavery, Black Power Movements and Women’s – rights movements, Civil Rights Movements and the end of Colonialism, greatly influenced his music. The songs reflected the close interconnections between music with issues concerning race, class, gender and sexuality in songs like Buffalo Soldier and Redemption Song. Contrary to popular belief, Marley’s music is a symbol of solidarity, unity, love, hope and Rastafarianism.
